CJUE C-463/06, FBTO Schadeverzekeringen / Odenbreit, hotărârea din 13.12.2007

Extrasele exacte din hotărâre la care trimit ghidurile.

1. Dispozitiv; PDF p. 14 / ECR I-11336 · limba originalului: en

   The reference in Article 11(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters to Article 9(1)(b) of that regulation is to be interpreted as meaning that the injured party may bring an action directly against the insurer before the courts for the place in a Member State where that injured party is domiciled, provided that such a direct action is permitted and the insurer is domiciled in a Member State.

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2. Punctul 21 până la dispozitiv (text primar consecutiv) · limba originalului: en

   21 It should be recalled, at the outset, that Section 3 of Chapter II of Regulation No 44/2001, containing Articles 8 to 14, provides rules of jurisdiction in matters relating to insurance, which are additional to the general rules contained in Section 1 of the same chapter of that regulation. 22 Section 3 lays down a number of rules of jurisdiction in relation to actions brought against an insurer. It provides, inter alia, that an insurer, domiciled in a Member State may be sued in the courts of the Member State where it is domiciled [Article 9(1)(a)], in the courts for the place where the plaintiff is domiciled if the action is brought by the policy holder, the insured or a beneficiary [Article 9(1)(b)] and, finally, in the courts for the place where the harmful event occurred, in respect of liability insurance or insurance of immovable property (Article 10). 23 As regards liability insurance, Article 11(2) of Regulation No 44/2001 refers back to those rules of jurisdiction in the case of actions brought by the injured party directly against the insurer. 24 Therefore, in order to reply to the question referred by the national court, it is necessary to define the scope of the reference made in Article 11(2) of Regulation No 44/2001 to Article 9(1)(b) of that regulation. It is necessary, in particular, to establish whether that reference should be interpreted as recognising only those courts designated in the latter provision, that is, those of the place of domicile of the policy holder, of the insured or of a beneficiary, as having jurisdiction to hear a direct I - 11332 FBTO SCHADEVERZEKERINGEN action brought by the injured party against the insurer, or whether that reference allows the rule of jurisdiction of the courts for the place where the plaintiff is domiciled, set out in Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001, to be applied to that action. 25 It is necessary to point out, in that regard, that Article 9(1)(b) does not merely attribute jurisdiction to the courts for the place where the persons listed therein are domiciled, but, on the contrary, it lays down that the courts for the place where the plaintiff is domiciled have jurisdiction, thereby giving such persons the option of suing the insurer before the courts for the place of their own domicile. 26 Thus, to interpret the reference in Article 11(2) of Regulation No 44/2001 to Article 9(1)(b) of that regulation as permitting the injured party to bring proceedings only before the courts having jurisdiction under that latter provision, that is to say, the courts for the place of domicile of the policy holder, the insured or the beneficiary, would run counter to the actual wording of Article 11(2). The reference leads to a widening of the scope of that rule to categories of plaintiff other than the policy holder, the insured or the beneficiary of the insurance contract who sue the insurer. Thus, the role of that reference is to add injured parties to the list of plaintiffs contained in Article 9(1)(b). 27 In that regard, the application of that rule of jurisdiction to a direct action brought by the injured party cannot depend upon the classification of that injured party as a 'beneficiary' within the meaning of Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001, since the reference to that provision in Article 11(2) thereof allows that rule of jurisdiction to be extended to such disputes without the plaintiff having to belong to one of categories in Article 9(1)(b). I - 11333 JUDGMENT OF 13. 12. 2007 — CASE C-463/06 28 That line of reasoning is also based on a teleological interpretation of the provisions at issue in the main proceedings. According to Recital 13 in the preamble to Regulation No 44/2001, the regulation aims to guarantee more favourable protection to the weaker party than the general rules of jurisdiction provide for (see, to that effect, Group Josi, paragraph 64, Société financière et industrielle du Peloux, paragraph 40, and Case 077/04 GIE Réunion européenne and Others [2005] ECR I-4509, paragraph 17). To deny the injured party the right to bring an action before the courts for the place of his own domicile would deprive him of the same protection as that afforded by the regulation to other parties regarded as weak in disputes in matters relating to insurance and would thus be contrary to the spirit of the regulation. Moreover, as the Commission correctly observes, Regulation No 44/2001 strengthened such protection as compared with the protection resulting from application of the Brussels Convention. 29 Such an interpretation is supported by the wording of Directive 2000/26 on matters relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, as amended — after the entry into force of Regulation No 44/2001 — by Directive 2005/14. In Directive 2000/26 the Community legislature not only provided, in Article 3, that injured parties should have a direct right of action against the insurance undertaking in the legal systems of the Member States, but also referred expressly, in Recital 16a to Articles 9(1)(b) and 11(2) of Regulation No 44/2001 in mentioning the right of injured parties to bring proceedings against the insurer in the courts for the place where they are domiciled. 30 As regards the consequences of allowing an injured party to bring a direct action against the insurer which, as is clear from the order for reference, is a controversial subject in Germany, it is necessary to point out that the application of the rule of I - 11334 FBTO SCHADEVERZEKERINGEN jurisdiction provided for by Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation No 44/2001 to such an action is not precluded by the latter's classification, in national law, as an action in tort relating to a right extrinsic to legal relations of a contractual nature. The nature of that action in national law is of no relevance for the application of the provisions of the regulation, since those rules of jurisdiction are contained in a section (namely Section 3 of Chapter II of the regulation) which concerns, in general, matters relating to insurance and is distinct from those relating to special jurisdiction in matters relating to a contract or to tort or delict (namely Section 2 of that chapter). The only condition which Article 11(2) of Regulation No 44/2001 lays down for the application of that rule of jurisdiction is that such a direct action must be permitted under the national law. 31 In light of all the foregoing considerations the reply to the question referred for a preliminary ruling must be that the reference in Article 11(2) of Regulation No 44/2001 to Article 9(1)(b) of that regulation is to be interpreted as meaning that the injured party may bring an action directly against the insurer before the courts for the place in a Member State where that injured party is domiciled, provided that a direct action is permitted and the insurer is domiciled in a Member State. Costs 32 Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable. I - 11335 JUDGMENT OF 13. 12. 2007 — CASE C-463/06 On those grounds, the Court (Second Chamber) hereby rules: The reference in Article 11(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters to Article 9(1)(b) of that regulation is to be interpreted as meaning that the injured party may bring an action directly against the insurer before the courts for the place in a Member State where that injured party is domiciled, provided that such a direct action is permitted and the insurer is domiciled in a Member State, [Signatures] I - 11336

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